Taking it all in

I have returned from an amazing and wonderful week in the North Island. We spent most of that time in New Plymouth. On the last morning of our stay there we biked around the coastline here.....

and came across the wind wand erected in 2000 as a memorial to Len Lye, the artist, film maker, writer and kinetic sculptor.

We had a delicious lunch at the Big Wave Cafe, a great spot for all the walkers and bikers on the boardwalk there.

We walked through spectacular bush , and visited some well established gardens,

This beautiful rhododendron is named Watermelon Dream and we found it here at the Pukeiti Gardens.

I loved New Plymouth for lots of reasons, but mostly because everywhere you go there, you are watched over by majestic Mount Taranaki.

The Monet exhibition at TePapa was a highlight for me. The paintings were luminous and glowing with light and colour. I could have stood and gazed at each one for hours and I felt while I was looking so intently, a great rush of love for this artist who gave us a small taste of his glorious world....very inspiring. In my hands in the car I was working on this....

which I was compelled to start after reading this.